2018 Müller? Müller Thurgau (orange)
Those of you who grew up in the 1980’s will surely get this pop culture reference. When the opportunity arose to source some old vine Müller Thurgau also from the early 1980’s I couldn’t resist. I have been impressed with many of the Müller Thurgau wines from Austria and so this is an unabashed nod to those wines, albeit with an Oregon twist.
Exotic Fruits & Sunshine 🏝
The concepts, theories, and applications of orange wines are vast. There is flavor in the juice, skin, and stem of a grape. So, why is most white wine made with ONLY juice? Old wine cultures knew that there is natural preservatives in the skins of the grape (see red wine production), as well as, color, tannin, and other flavors. So, they used the whole cluster, not just the juice. I had always wanted to make an orange wine but struggled to think of a grape that hadn't already been "done" before. Enter Müller-Thurgau. One day after casually looking over the harvest statistics from the previous vintage compiled by the Oregon Wine Board, I noticed that coming in last place was Müller. I knew then, that I found my wine. Who doesn't like to champion an underdog?
WINE INFO
WINE TYPE: Orange
APPELLATION: Yamhill Carlton AVA
VINTAGE: 2018
GRAPE: Müller-Thurgau
ESTATE GROWN: Purchased grapes
VINEYARD SOURCE: REDACTED Vineyards
VINEYARD AGE: 39 years old
DRY FARMED: Yes
OWN ROOTED: Yes
SOIL TYPE: Volcanic
ELEVATION: 175 feet (53m)
HARVEST DATE: October 23rd, 2018
HARVEST METHOD: Hand Harvested
BRIX @ HARVEST: 23.0
pH @ HARVEST: 3.21
SKIN CONTACT: 8 days - Ambient
CHAPTALIZATION: No
FERMENTATION: Ambient Yeast
MATURATION VESSEL: Neutral French Oak & 390L NOVUM ceramic
ALCOHOL (by volume): 12.85%
SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO₂): 6 mG/L
ACIDITY SCALE (pH): 3.59
TOTAL ACIDITY: 4.4 g/L
FINING AGENT: Unfined (Vegan)
FILTRATION: Unfiltered
BOTTLE SIZE: 750ml (AG)
CLOSURE TYPE: FineCorkX (99.99% TCA free)
HAND BOTTLED: Yes
PRODUCTION: 194 cases
BOTTLING DATE: May 28th, 2019
RELEASE DATE: June 12th, 2019
This wine was bottled in 🇺🇸 made glass, with a cork from 🇮🇹 and a label that was designed and printed in the 🇺🇸 .
Please ♻︎ this bottle when you are finished enjoying it.
